A Class Action Lawsuit that focused on the basis of court orders requiring California to reduce its prison population to remedy unconstitutional conditions in its correctional facilities as they pertain to the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Marciano Plata and various prisoners alleged that California prisons were in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which bans "cruel and unusual punishment." Three Special panel federal judges determined that serious overcrowding in California's 33 prisons was the "primary cause" for violations of the Eighth Amendment. The court ordered the release of enough prisoners so the inmate population would come within 137.5 percent of the prisons' total design capacity. That amounts to between 38,000 and 46,000 inmates being released.  The Supreme Court ruled No and affirmed the decision made by the special panel by stating that the court-mandated population limit being necessary to remedy the violation of prisoners' constitutional rights and is authorized by the PLRA.

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest tribunal in the Nation for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution or the laws of the United States.

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^{Keywords: U.S Supreme Court, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, California}

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